Here’s Why Rajamouli Was Named ‘Jakkanna’

It has proven that when everybody in Tollywood was selling bananas, Rajamouli sold oranges. This ace director who received international acclaim for his Gothic genre project — Baahubali, has a special name in his closed Tollywood circle.

'Jakkanna', as his peers call him, got the name much before it became popular. Here is the story behind the name Jakkanna. From the days he has been working with television serials, Rajamouli has been maintaining close relationship with character artiste Rajiv Kanakala and Jr NTR.

Rajiv Kanakala had played a role of a villain in Rajamouli's movie – Student No.1 starring Jr NTR, which has become first major hit for NTR. Since then, Rajiv's role has become a sentiment for Rajamouli in every movie he has directed. There used to be a character for Rajiv in Rajamouli's movie. During the sets of Student no.1, Rajiv Kanakala noticed that Rajamouli has keen visualization on every element of the movie during shooting.

Rajiv Kanakala was captivated with the working style of Rajamouli and coined the name 'Jakkanna' a popular sculptor during the time Hoysala empire in South India. From then, Rajamouli got popular with Jakkanna in Tollywood. This was disclosed by Rajiv Kanakala during an interview to a news channel following the release of Baahubali-2: The Conclusion.